Question on river fishing tactics

My whole life i have fished lakes and a few farm ponds. It wasnt till about 4 months ago I started fishing some local rivers (ex. Rock River, Fox River). I'm not quite used to the current i dont think. When I cast my line seems to drag toward the way of the current, but i cant till if its my whole carolina rig or just the excess line traveling down. What are some ways I can stablize this? I'm using about a 3 ounce no-roll sinker. I know most of you are probably shocked at such a question, but you have to understand I knew about 5 lakes like the back of my hand, but they havent heated up quite yet so I'm trying the whole river thing out for the first time. Please get back to me with some responses ASAP!! I'm going out tonight!! Thank you

Once you get used to the rivers, you might not want to go back to those silly stagnant puddles. Really, I am just the opposite - I love rivers and almost never fish "still" water for cats.

The very best way to deal with the current in to fish from a boat and cast (almost) straight down current, so the water doesn't drag your rigs sideways and get them onto a snag. If you are limited to fishing from the bank, then obviously this isn't so easy. I would try some different shaped sinkers. If you can get a hold of some pyramid sinkers, they will do a better job of staying in one place (for the same weight) than the no-roll. No-roll sinkers may not roll, but they do drag pretty easy. The sharp edges of the pyramid sinkers are meant to dig into the bottom a bit and grab. Even with different sinkers, though, you are still going to have to cast diagonally down the current and allow a little space for it to drag a bit before it grabs.

I only bank fish the Mississippi at the Alton dam. The current there is usually strong. I use 12' rods with usually 6oz flat bank sinkers. I would recommend getting rods that have enough back bone to handle 6oz sinkers plus bait. Pyramids will also work well. Depending on the bottom structure of the river you fish, usually when the sinker comes to rest, it it in a snag and you will lose it. It is sometime a pain to bank fish river waters with a lot of current, but that is where the action is. Good luck.

I use a 3 or 4 ounce bank sinker, on a single drop leader tie the sinker on the swivel with 8# test line if you tie up with a big one and you hang up the sinker will break off making it easier to land the fish.

Use that current to your advantage, bud. I've never heard of those rivers, so I'd assume they're fairly small. Cats often get behind shallow riffles in deeper water and eat the food that's getting washed to them. This is also a great place to be when the dog days of summer hits and the water is lacking oxygen. There's a very specific technique for fishing current in the library. I just can't seem to remember what it's called. Anyway, go check it out. The author of it is catcaller, so you know you got the right one. Good luck with tonight.

If you use multiple rods at one time try putting a three way rig on half of them. Three way swivels come in handy. That's all I use when I'm bank fishing. I'm like you, I like to know I don't have 15 feet of slack out below my carolina rig. I use the carolina rig from a boat sometimes.

First, three one ounce weights will provide more drag than one three ounce weight, so you can try increasing your holding power without going to huge weights that way.
Second, try putting a slip float on your line without a stopper on it. If you can keep your line reasonably tight from the rod to the float, it will help keep your line from getting a big belly in it pulling your bait downstream.
Third, if you're using mono, switch to braid for it's smaller diameter (less current drag).
Good luck!

If bank fishing it is essential to reduce the amount of "bow" in your line as you cast. Think of it this way, you cast out to a spot 40 yrds away, and let the reel continue to freespool till you hit bottom. The current was taking line out as the sinker fell so now you have 60 yrds of line out to get to a spot 40 yrds away. Now you have current pushing aginst 60 yrds of line instead of 40. So it makes it easier for your bait to get pulled out of place.Try to stay in contact with your sinker as it falls ( as soon as the bait hits water reel in till you feel the sinker) then slowly let line out till the sinker hits bottom. This only works in water over 10ft cause any less than that you shouldn't get much Hang time. Always be sure to reel in any slack once the sinker is on bottom, reel in till you can feel it then just to be sure give it a little hop to move the sinker a foot or so that way you know there is no slack and the swivel is tight to the sinker. Also try to cast to a point farther upstream than where you intend to fish this lets you pull the bait back down a little if need be.

in swift water i use sinkers with claws on them.i have 6 to 10 ounce.throw out to where you want to fish and let the sinker drag till it hangs bottom.take up slack line being careful not to pull your sinker loose.put rod in holder and when the fish bites he will straiten out the claw your in bussiness.